Novelist Neil Gaiman tells the graduating 2012 class of the University Of The Arts everything he wishes he knew starting out and all the best advice he failed to follow. (Vimeo 19:55)
posted by The Whelk on May 18, 2012 - 20 comments

"Systems thinking (PDF) is the process of understanding how things influence one another within a whole...Systems Thinking has been defined as an approach to problem solving, by viewing 'problems' as parts of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific part, outcomes or events and potentially contributing to further development of unintended consequences." -Wikipedia [more inside]
posted by JoeXIII007 on Apr 21, 2012 - 25 comments

Why not space? We've previously looked at Do The Math's assessment of energy use and economic growth. But could going to the stars allow us to escape?
posted by bitmage on Oct 27, 2011 - 31 comments

The story of stuff and how it's currently being played out between the political economies of China and the US (G2 'Chimerica') in an illuminating Fallows vs. Ferguson cage match. [more inside]
posted by kliuless on Jul 19, 2009 - 5 comments

The value of limits, expressed through the process of a four-year-old making a painting. [more inside]
posted by carbide on Jan 14, 2009 - 14 comments

"In the early 1970s, the artist Chris Burden pioneered a kind of sculpture that explored boundaries few people would care even to approach." The artist has had himself (in two of many examples...) nearly electrocuted and shot; some of his later and lighter work includes building complex model bridges and reconstructing a "Speed of Light Machine". He created a ghost ship, uninhabited and self navigated, and continues to surprise with his latest work.... [more inside]
posted by Kronos_to_Earth on Jun 8, 2008 - 23 comments